Method of improving the alloying qualities of manganese with brass and bronze.



HANS GOLDSCHMIDT AND OTTO WEIL, OF ESSEN-ON-THE-RUHR, GERMANY, ASSIGNOBS T0 GOLDSCHMIDT THERMIT COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. 1., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF. IMPROVING THE ALLOYING QUALITIES 0F MANGANESE WITH BRASS AND BRONZE.

1,214,539, Specification of Letters Eatent.

No Drawing. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HANS GOLDSCHMIDT and O'i'ro VEIL, subjects of the King of Prussia, and residents -of Essen-on-the- Ruhr, in the Province of the Rhine, Germany, have jointly invented a certain new and useful Method of Improving the Alloying Qualities of Manganese with Brass and Bronze, of which the following is a specification.

Recently it has been found that small portions of manganese highly improve the quality of brass and bronze. But the difficulties of introducing small quantities of manganese into the metal-baths have caused many foundries to renounce the employment of this metal. Small quantities of pure manganese added to the metal-bath do not alloy at all in the beginning. If one would try for instance to alloy the metals by stirring them with an iron-rod, the small quantity of manganese would cling to the rod and the result would be a metal practically free from manganese. Very often small parts of manganese attach to the walls of the crucible and may cause a quick destruction of the latter by scorification. Besides for the alloying of pure manganese with brass and bronze there would be neces sary an excessive heating of the bath which causes a considerable waste of the charge and a higher consumption of fuel. These difficulties are partly overcome by employing a manganese-copper-alloy instead of pure manganese although here too the expeditious and uniform distribution of the metal in the bath must be carried out very carefully. For the manufacturing 'of the ore-alloy of manganese and copper an excessive heating of thecomponents (about 1200 C.) is necessary and the relatively slow dissolution of the manganese in the molten copper causes a slow melting. The

' consequence of these two facts is also a high waste of fuel and of crucibles. Now practice has shown that all these difficulties are avoided if for the manufacturing of the pre-alloy phosphor-copper is employed instead of .copper. The components alloy in a considerably shorter time and at a much lower temperature than in the absence of phosphorus. The scorification of the manganese is prevented by the presence of the violently reducing phosphorus. The best results are obtained by the use ofphosphorcopper of high percentage, but even 1% of phlosphorus is suflicient to obtain good resu ts.

copper as elementary phosphorus or as Patented Feb. 6, 19117.

Application filed December 5, 1914. Serial No. 875,581.

Whether the phosphorus is added to the i phosphor-copper or whether one part or all the elements are reduced in presence of the other components is of no importance. It is only necessary that phosphorus is present, when manganese and copper are to be alloyed. Of course the manganese may also be employed as manganese-copper or in connection with other admixtures.

Instead of pure manganese ferro-manganese for instance the commercial product containing 80 per cent. of manganese may be used. The alloying quality of this product is also higher in the presence of phosphorus than that of the material free from phosphorus. Such alloys can be manufactured in the presence of phosphorus in any proportions.

By the employment in a brassor bronzebath of such a manganese-copper-phosphorus-alloy, or a ferro manganese-copperphosphorus-alloy shows important advantages compared with the separated use of manganese, or manganese-copper and phosphor-copper. The introduction of the manganese into the metal-baths takes place very easily without any excess heating. The phosphorus is a strong deoxidizing reagent and its products of oxidation being gaseous at the temperature of the metal-bath, cause a good mixing together of the metal-bath by their escape. The mode of employment is carried out like that of phosphor-copper. Another advantage obtained by the employment of the ternary or quaternary alloy consists in a single addition and in a single weighing. In the same manner manganese can easily be introduced into nickel-alloys.

The percentage of phosphorus and manganese is only dependent on the purpose of employment. Howex'er we may say that at present it is impossible to cast alloys of a relatively high melting-point with more than 25 per cent. of phosphorus because of the high evaporation. The lower limit at which phosphorus can still be employed advantageously, cannot be exactly determined.

This minimum-percentage is about 5 per cent." of phosphorus. The alloying quality of the copper with manganese will be increased with the increasing of the amount of phosphorus. The percentage of manganese will be chosen rather high (about 3050%). But there are no difliculties in taking a smaller amount of manganese if this should be desired for special purposes. As already mentioned above, all the elements which alloy with manganese and copper, may also easily be introduced into this ternary alloy.

What We claim is:

1. The method of producing alloys of brass or bronze containing manganese which consists in first improving the alloying quality of the manganese by alloying the same with phosphorus and'copper and then add- 7 ing the pre-alloy thus formed to the metal 20 bath containing the, other ingredients of the v alloy.

2. The method of producing alloys of brass or bronze containing manganese which consists in first improving the alloying qual 25 ity of the manganese by alloying ferro-ma ganese with phosphorus and copper, an then adding the pre-alloy thus formed to the metal bath containing the other ingredients of the alloy.

Witnesses ALBERT NUFER,

GEORGE G. W. WARD. 

